Leap!

While working within the public school system, I’ve advocated for the place of dance education by participating fully in the process of reshaping dance as a content area (e.g., creating grade level standards and expectations, writing assessments, aligning curriculum, integrating other academic subjects). I attend all building leadership meetings and budget planning meetings; I facilitate a professional learning community and district curriculum alignment team. While all these measures seem necessary in order to carve a place for dance in public schools, there remains the struggle to nurture what I know and love about my art form, in order to share it with children who deserve a chance to dance.

This conflict – between maintaining the life force of dance and molding dance as an understandable content area – jumped into my thoughts upon reading a recent article in ALT/Space: “Alone We Can Do So Little” by Victoria Row-Traster. Never mind that her main point (a wonderful discussion about how a team of teachers can enliven the teaching/learning interaction) is moot within the public school setting, where budget constraints always limit the teacher/student ratio. What caught me was her portrayal of the real goal of teaching art – the spark. I’ve modified her words here in order to apply them to myself:

“During planning, [I] think about the intended “spark”…. [I] ask [myself] how… do [I] plan on capturing each student’s imagination in order for them to be fully immersed in the work? This challenge is amplified when you include the expectations of the classroom teacher… And often, this is all in 45 minutes! In other words — how do we “hook” the kids?”

For me, this conflict plays itself out on a daily basis. I try to plan units that include formative and summative assessments, units that also meet the state’s grade level expectations, including daily teaching points that encourage students not just to dance but to think and verbalize what they know about dance. At the same time, I try to get the kids moving, give them a chance to be swept along by the flow of creating, and dancing together – experiencing the spark that has kept me dancing all these years.

Some days it’s a hard go. But sometimes it works. On Wednesday this past week, I needed to try out some newly-written assessments, intended to gather data for writing grades on our newly-written dance report cards. But I also desperately needed, for myself and the kids, to get them dancing again. In a whimsical moment, I decided on my teaching point: “Leaping lizards! It’s leap year!”

We warmed up with a moving pattern they already know and love, I added an extra warm-up to get them ready for jumping, and we took off across the floor: skips, leaps, diagonal leaps, leaps in crossing diagonal lines. After a good bit of exuberance, we settled into a task of choreographing a haiku by the poet Meisetsu:

A river leaping,
tumbling over the rocks roars on…
as the mountain smiles.

I got some assessment data by videotaping the results but, most importantly, there were a lot of smiles from me and from the kids, as the class unfolded! The spark was lit — by humor, whimsy, the exuberance of moving full-out, and we all felt it. It’s great to experience what we’re really after… so onward…

The lesson is based on “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes.

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me–
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
A tall, slim tree . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

Warm-up
A word-driven improvisational warm-up
This is an improvisational structure I learned from Thom Cobb during an NDEO National Conference session (was it in Providence, Rhode Island?) – Thank you, Tom! It’s served my students & myself very well over the years!
Teach a sequence of words for students to respond to in succession, discussing elements of movement to focus each response. For example:
“Space” – students make a shape using full extension in whatever direction they choose
“Time” – students either run in place or move in sloooooooow motion
“Energy” – students either punch or float in self space
“4 shapes” – students make shapes from high to low with 4 percussive drum beats
“Balloons” – students rise from low to high with delicate, floating energy
“Locomotor high & low” – students travel in general space for 8 counts
“Forest picture snap” – students take any frozen shape that would be part of a forest scene (rock, bush, tree, animal, whatever!)
“Wind” – only the boys swirl, twist, & turn through general space while girls hold their shape
“Lightning” – only the girls move sharply, with angular shapes & electric moves among the frozen shapes of the boys
“Mud” – everyone moves with slow, strong, smooth moves as if stuck in the mud
“Popcorn” – everyone explodes once
“Sneak back home” – everyone moves back to their starting place with quick sneaky focus
“Melting ice cream” – slowly sinking downward
“Exclamation point!” – explode into a frozen ending shape
Use whatever words evoke the qualities of movement you want…

Exploration
Examining the first stanza of “Dance Variations” by Langston Hughes for words that suggest movement:
1. Read the poem
2. Check for unfamiliar vocabulary & clarify new vocabulary with synonyms
3. Highlight words that suggest movement
4. Students explore various ways to express the words, individually, on cue
5. Choose a favorite three words or phrases & create a phrase (as a whole class or individually, or not at all, depending on the time)

Skill Development
Teach a phrase of choreography built on 3 words or images from the second stanza, modeling with an explanation of how the movements were chosen to express the words. Create a sequence appropriate for your students; how specific you are on details of the choreography will depend on your students.
For example,
Model of a choreography sequence from “Dream Variations”
Music: “Spring Rain” by Michael Powers ~30 seconds
“Quick day” – “For quick day, I use focuses with sharp & sustained energy to express the way African Americans were watchful & careful during the day.”
8 counts: sharp focus 1, focus 2, hold 3, sharp focus 4, slowly scan for danger 5, 6, 7, 8
8 counts: repeat
“Rest” – “To show resting, I take 8 counts to change from a fearful outward focus to a more relaxed shape with an inward focus.”
8 counts: turn with a slow focus & arm gesture
8 counts: rest head on arms to one side
“Night coming tenderly” – “For night coming tenderly, I trace an arc over my head with my arm, thinking about how the sky looks at sunset, and then I sink gently to the floor.”
8 counts: arc with arm over the head for sunset
8 counts: sink gently to the floor
Practice & repeat to cement the sequence of the phrase, with smooth transitions. Rehearse with the words as cues, or not.

Choreography
Now it’s their turn… with a partner, students choose 3 words, images, or phrases from the first stanza, create a movement phrase to express each image or phrase, and practice their phrase. If you have time, they can add the choreographed phrase you taught them as an ending to their own.

Cool-down
Have students watch each other’s choreography. Several pairs can perform at once; if they add the learned choreography, each pair will do that second, and it will probably be performed in a kind of canon, with each pair doing the same final moves at different times.
Ask the audience to watch for & identify words or phrases they see from the poem.
Or else have the dancers identify one of their images & explain how they chose to express it with movement (either verbally or in writing).

*Langston Hughes 1902-1967     Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968     Alvin Ailey 1931-1989

In my own corner, which happens to be occupied by the only full-time dance educator in my urban district (that’s me), Dance is now on every elementary report card in the district. For my first 15 years of being a certified dance teacher in a public school, there was one box, labeled “Art.” Teachers would cross out “Art” and write “Dance” — or I always assumed they did. Maybe they didn’t.  Then they would copy a check, a plus, or a minus into the box from the student lists I gave them. No one knew what the symbol referred to: behavior? skill? effort? talent? And I never received feedback indicating that anyone cared.

This year, however, a new electronic report card system has put Dance on the page — or at least on the report cards — all of them, with four Dance-related boxes per child. In 52 of the district’s 57 elementary schools, of course, the dance boxes are marked with “N,” for “not evaluated,” AKA “not taught.” In four schools, grades will be filled in at several grade levels (by my part-time colleagues). And in my school, they’re filled in for each of my 360 kindergarten-5th grade students. That’s 1,440 little electronic boxes, indicating achievement (1 through 4) in three standards unique to each grade level [a blog post from July has details], plus a symbol to show minimal, steady, or significant rate of progress. And comments of up to 1,000 words, where appropriate.

Having never done this before, and working with a system which is only in its first year of review and revision, filling all of these little boxes over the past two weeks took about 12-14 hours, outside of the usual schedule of classes. That’s after school and most of last weekend. I did the kindergarteners three times over, wrestling with the software and the scoring system.  I wonder if I’ll have any feedback indicating that anyone cares?

Meanwhile, a jumble of thoughts haven’t yet come to order in my own mind. Here’s a few…

• There could well be parents all over the district thinking, “Dance? Why doesn’t our school have dance?” I’m OK with that.
• Many of our parents still won’t have any idea what the standards are in dance, because the district hasn’t even finished translating all the academic subjects into all the home languages.
• I did have a moment or two of satisfaction at finally having a way to communicate how inadequately several of my (360) students behave during class.
• If I’m going to have to score my students on these priority standards, I need activities, assessments, and rubrics specifically designed to support the scores. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
• And how about a curriculum? As we put the structure in place to incorporate Dance as a full-fledged member in education, a K-5 curriculum would be useful. At least as a springboard.
• If we can get the kinks worked out, report cards may be a new way to communicate about the value Dance adds to education.
• I still need to sort out which of the standards we wrote are workable and which aren’t — so we can make recommendations for revisions.
• Gee, I wish there were more full-time dance educators to talk to about this!
• And, most important, how do we continue to ensure that dance class in public education is dance — fun, creativite, expressive, collaborative, and engaging because it’s dance? Can we bring it into the fold, without squishing it into a mold?!

If you have any thoughts on any of this, I’d welcome your feedback or conversation!

• Continue healing from a partial knee replacement.  My knee’s doing beautifully, with range of motion returning, but my energy’s not its normal self yet.
• Integrate structures & concepts from the Readers Workshop.  I started using this material last year, following a week of professional development on Writers Workshop.  Specific things I’m trying to integrate: a focus on the student as developing artist, clear teaching points, mini-lessons with abundant time for independent work, use of mentor videos & texts…
• Reorient myself around a new class schedule.  Last year’s schedule-from-hell is no more (can you hear the fireworks?).  This year I’ll be teaching 1st-5th graders for 60 minutes every other day instead of 30 minutes every day.  Having taught in the public schools for 16 years now, I haven’t had the indulgence of a 60-minute session in about 20 years!  Could be a challenge to plan the right amount & flow of material for awhile…
• Enjoy my last few days of vacation, while getting ready for what’s to come…

It’s a beautiful day & I’ve already worked for awhile on Goals 1-3, so I’m ready for Goal 4.  On the way out into the sunshine, I’ll stop at the thrift store & get some plain white shirts — for 5th grade girls who spend all their time in dance class trying to keep their bellies covered by tugging at their short tops & low-cut jeans!  Maybe I’ll even get some belts for the boys, who have to keep their hands on their sagging pants all the time!

Happy transitioning!

Next week I’ll start my 7^th month of teaching dance to 16 students with autism, without the help of extra time for planning or professional development. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way, with me grateful for every stray scrap of advice and inspiration that’s come my way.  Thanks especially to a small email network of colleagues who are venturing along the same path, as well as a couple good books (by Temple Grandin & Ellen Notbohm).

I work with two classes of 8 students, one with 1^st-3^rd graders and the other with kindergarten-1^st graders. The two classes are so different ~ the older group having developed some skills in verbal & visual communication, while the younger group are just learning to communicate!

So, where have we gone in our explorations…?  The older group can venture in many directions now, each child in his or her own way.  What keeps us going best is the usual delicate balance between familiar routines, new & exciting props, and gradual challenges.

Explorations that have succeeded and continue to grow include:

• The BrainDance: First thing each day we progress through the coordination patterns of the BrainDance, often using the prop of the day (foam bats, stretchy bands, body bags).
• Taking turns: We use short foams bats as clappers and have clapping conversations one-on-one. Depending on the child, I still say “my turn/your turn,” or I ask the child to initiate the conversation, or the child responds to my initiation.  None of the students need an instructional assistant to guide their hands anymore, and one boy is very adept at copying my rhythm. They also take turns on…
• Following a pathway: They’ve progressed from picking up the plastic marker spots and flapping them against the floor to stepping on or over each spot on the way across the floor. I’ve added hula-hoops-in-stands for crawling through along the way, and lately they’ve been practicing jumping over cardboard boxes (instead of stomping on them).
• Beach balls: All but two of the kiddos have learned to blow up and deflate their own beach ball – and are motivated to do it even when it’s hard and takes awhile!  Once the beach balls are inflated, we do the BrainDance, a Freeze Dance, solo toss-and-catch, one-on-one toss-and-catch (with me… not with each other so far), solo dribbling with our feet, and toss-through-a-hoop or into-a-bucket.
• Foam bats: BrainDance, Clapping Conversations (see Taking turns above), rhythmic patterns with music.
• Body sox:  Boy, are these ever a hit! They’ve all learned to lay them out to insert their feet like a sleeping bag. Using the bags, we’ve explored body parts (feeling them push from inside the bag), levels, shapes, smooth&sharp energy, and stationary/(carefully!) traveling moves. At first, I taught them to keep their head out, but as they’ve grown familiar with the body sox, I let them choose — head in or out.  The kids are even getting used to folding them when we’re done.
• Hullabaloo: This is an extension of an electronic game one of their teachers had. Instead of the little spot-markers in the game, we use brightly colored plastic circles, and instead of the electronic directions (that are fast and hard-to-understand), I call & demonstrate different ways to travel from one color-spot to another, using whatever concept I’m emphasizing for the day (body parts, locomotor skills, levels, directions, shapes…).
• Percussion instruments: We practice starting & stopping on cue (stopping is a vague concept for some of them!), beating a match-the-words rhythm (“Pizza, I like pizza, pepperoni pizza, and cheese!” with “shhh” and a “quiet” gesture of a finger to the  lips on pauses between the words), and taking turns playing solos ~~ as well as let-it-rip play-as-you-like intervals.
• Yoga: Using pictures, we have a progression that starts standing and ends with the “Do Nothing Doll” ~~ with each of them lying down while I circulate to gently lift and shake their relaxed arms as a way of saying goodbye each day.

We all still suffer some from Carter’s screaming tantrums whenever things don’t quite follow his expectations (some weeks it happens every day), or Aldrin’s obsession with aggravating Spencer by touching & poking him.  But each week we work together now I’m delighted to see their improvement – with gratitude for the consistent support of their instructional aids (always with us) and the work of their classroom teacher — it’s great to see them dance & grow!

Nonetheless, we just finished some tap dancing, and it was successful, thanks to the instructional DVD Rhythm Kidz — Tap Dance in Tennis Shoes with Steve Zee.  This DVD works in all the ways it needs to for public school use:

• there’s a mix of kids,
• the steps are manageable,
• the instruction is clear and quick with repetition,
• the video shows kids dancing, both in tap shoes and tennis shoes,
• the costuming is appropriate and non-dorky,
• each chapter shows a combination, all of which build to a dance.

All of these factors are necessary in order for a DVD to go up in front of my kids, but easily the best point was that they all felt fine about practicing the steps in tennis shoes, since the DVD shows it as an option.  I started every day by leading a warm-up and some tap basics, but the DVD was a great way to let my kids watch someone besides me dance for a change — without the wear-and-tear on my own knees of 4 classes daily!

There are other tap dance DVDs that I’ve looked at, but can’t use in the school setting.  Just a note for anyone who’s thinking of making a DVD for the public school setting, here are some critical issues:

• don’t dress the boys & girls alike… dance has enough of a gender-specific reputation in the general public without making it hard to tell the boys from the girls, or dressing the boys to look like girls;
• be sure the adults in the video are dressed for the most conservative viewers… skip the leotards with the high-cut legs & the low-cut necklines if your audience is kids, cause your DVD will be a no-show in certain demographics;
• gather a really diverse bunch of kids for your DVD — age, gender, and race — so your DVD can be used in all settings and with all kinds of kids!

And you can find it here too!

So I wrote it on the board, and we started class on the same page: Dancers use unison & canon as strategies for choreography.

Although I don’t always nail a succinct point, here are some that have succeeded:

• 1st & 2nd graders: Dancers use powerful & delicate energy.
• 1st & 2nd graders: Dancers can tell stories through narrative dance.
• 1st & 2nd graders: Dancers use near & far range to show ideas.
• 3rd & 4th graders: A good artist creates patterns.
• 3rd & 4th graders: Choreographers put phrases together smoothly to build a dance.
• 5th graders: Dancers use expansion & diminution as strategies for choreography, followed the next day by Dancers can use math to diminish a sequence.
• 5th graders: Dancers warm up & practice to improve their technique.

Teaching points: Dancers use free & bound flow.  Dancers tell stories through narrative dance.

Targets:

• Explore free & bound flow;
• Participate in a story-telling dance.

Context: This lesson takes two 30-minute sessions, one to introduce/explore the element of flow and the other to develop/enact the story (or one session of more reasonable length!).  Kids love dancing the story, so it’s a great one to do in the days before any holiday — it’s festive & makes everyone smile, regardless of religion or heritage.  I also return to it at the end of the year, when we’re enjoying our last days of community before summer vacation by doing favorite stories & dances.

Lesson 1 :  Dancers use free & bound flow.

• Introduce the element of flow, by showing & saying the words free flow & bound flow, while moving first arms, then bodies with free & bound flow.  Note for students how their muscles feel looser during free flow, and their movements keep going without stopping.  Bound flow is characterized by a tighter feeling in the muscles, so that during extreme bound flow, their muscles are tight & hard.  In bound flow, the mover is able to stop at any moment without great effort.
• Lead students in an improvisational exploration of free & bound flow, first by using the image of a water faucet turning on, turning off & dripping. Sound effects are good, with the sssshhhhh of the water juxtaposed to the silence of a closed faucet or a percussive “drip, drip.”
• Change to imagery of a river, flowing freely, gradually icing over to frozen, with the ice cracking & moving from waves underneath.
• Designate some locomotor/nonlocomotor moves to repeat as both river & ice, with free & bound flow (e.g., run, turn, swing).
• Create bound flow statues:  model for students by making a shape & asking one student to try to move your shape, while you hold firm & resist. Then have them make a shape & resist being moved. [Depending on the group, you can take turns one by one, or you can show them how to work with a partner, with each alternating as the mover & resister.]
• Play “rag doll“: Again model by lying on the floor & allowing one student to move your relaxed, heavy arm.  [Remind them not to drop your arm -- and that the "rag doll" can't relax unless s/he feels safe.]  I usually do this one-on-one because many of them need special encouragement in order to relax & be floppy. Once they’ve experienced it, they’re happy to either relax & rest, or try it on each other, while I’m getting to everyone.
• Ask students to reflect on the different feelings of resisting & letting go.

Lesson 2: Dancers tell stories through narrative dance.

• Warm up by doing a series of yoga shapes, experimenting with whether free or bound flow (loose or tight muscles) is more effective for maintaining balance & alignment, or whether some muscles have to work more during some shapes.
• Have students improvise with free & bound flow by dancing with a scarf, cueing the changes between free & bound imagery with contrasting music. During music that flows, students let the scarf flow freely, holding it with one hand or tossing & catching. During music that sounds more percussive or controlled, students hold the scarf with both hands and move with it in a taut position.
• Talk with students about how dancers can tell stories; invite them to help tell the story of The Toy Shop. Introduce the 2 kinds of characters: rag dolls & switch-on toys.  Rag dolls sit upright, with floppy arms & legs. Switch-on toys start in a frozen shape, only moving when someone switches them on by touching an elbow; when they run down, they freeze until they’re reactivated.
• Give them home spots for the story & begin — I put plastic spots in 2 lines (“shelves”), one for rag dolls & one for switch-on toys, assigning students as I spread them out. Rag dolls are sitting down, flopping & droopy.  Students playing switch-on toys can be any kind they like… turtle, airplane, ballerina.  Once everyone has their place & shape, the story starts, with a reminder that they’ll be dancing & playing their characters silently in order to hear the story.  I adjust the vocabulary for the story as needed — with 60% of my students speaking a second language at home, I keep it spare & simple…

Once upon a time, there was a toy shop that specialized in rag dolls & switch-on toys. Every night before the toymaker left for the night, she would check her toys.  First she would check all the rag dolls to be sure they still had all their arms & legs after being looked at by customers all day [I'm the toymaker, and as I talk, I gently shake arms & legs on all the dancers in the rag doll row]. Then she would check all the switch-on toys. When she wound up each toy, it would dance around the shop and come back to its place [a touch on the elbow & a bit of a shove will get each student going].  But one night, there was a broken toy. The toymaker wound it up again & again, but it wouldn’t go. [I choose the broken toy as I go, usually a small child who'll be easy to pick up.  I whisper to the child not to move.] So she picked up that broken toy [hopefully, the "toy" is stiff & easy to lift slightly off the floor] and carried it to the garbage, so she could toss it out in the morning [by this time, on the first telling, everyone is very alert, especially the "broken toy" who just got carried out into the middle of the floor]. Then the toymaker took one more look around, turned out the lights & locked the door for the night.

The toy shop was dark & quiet.  But then [I turn on some music & sit down to become one of the rag dolls for a few minutes], the rag dolls began to wake up.  First they shook their arms, then their heads, then they pulled their legs underneath themselves, took a few floppy steps, and …fell down! They got themselves up again and flopped and fell over to the switch-on toys and began to wind them up. The switch-on toys came out to dance & play with the rag dolls. [You judge how long to let the dancing go on...]

Then the toys gathered around the broken toy in the garbage and without ever touching that broken toy [model by standing about 3 feet away & wiggling your fingers toward the broken-toy child], they worked on its head, its shoulders, its knees & its feet. Finally, one of them touched its switch & away it went.  It was fixed!  All the toys danced through the night… [Again, you judge the length... the switch-on toys should be starting & stopping, with other toys reactivating them. When it's time to continue, fade the music.]

…until morning came, and all the toys went back to their places.

When the toymaker came in the next morning, she looked around, and everything was just as it should be.  Except… the broken toy was gone from the garbage… and the broken toy was back on the shelf [no matter how many times the kids have heard they story, they enjoy watching me react with amazement & puzzlement over the broken toy...]!  And when the toymaker wound up that broken toy, it was fixed!  It danced around the shop & came back to its place… and that toymaker never did know what happened in the night!

Often at this point, the children supply an ending… “We fixed it!” “It was magic!”

• Immediately, have the switch-on toys sit down to be rag dolls, the rag dolls stand up & choose a switch-on character, and retell the whole story. Everyone gets to play each character, and the second time they can dance a story they know.
• If there’s time, do a final open-ended improvisation about a toy shop. Each of them can be any toy they like… they start on the shelf… when the music begins, they wake up, play & interact silently… when the music stops they return to their shelf.  After the final frozen shape in the improvisation, give them a slow count of 5 to make a big circle with room for everyone and have them reflect & talk about what they saw & experienced during the improv.
• If there’s no time for the final improv, have them reflect & talk with a partner about their favorite part of the story… or their favorite character… and ask a few students to share.

• body shapes & developmental moves (kindergarten)
• range/size, speed, pathways & relationships (1st-2nd)
• choreography from motifs integrated with ecosystems & cultural dances (3rd-4th)
• the warm-up process & elements of technique in hiphop & cultural styles (5th)
• breath, beach balls & BrainDance rhymes (autism).

A new twist for me this year in planning has been the concept of incorporating mentor works at frequent intervals along the way…  an idea I got from Writers Workshop, where stories & literary examples are chosen as mentor works to illustrate writing strategies.  In dance too, mentor works serve to exemplify creative strategies — but are valuable for so much more.  Most students have such a limited experience of dance — and many stereotypes. So mentor works provide background: what different dance styles look like, what a dance looks like on stage, the different movement signatures of men & women around the world, how to tell a story in dance, how the lights & costumes support a dance, what expert technique looks like on a variety of bodies… And for my kiddos, who have one dance teacher for 6 years, they get a glimmer of what it might be like to have a different dance instructor!

In thinking of mentor works, I include several categories of resources:

• Cultural dances offer a wonderful array of steps, various dance elements, partner maneuvers & group formations.
• Videos of people doing cultural dances provide visual support to help kids accomplish a tricky maneuver (like “reeling the set” in contra dance — much easier to do once they’ve seen it done).
• Videos of performance dance illustrate dance elements, choreographic devices, the history of dance, contributions of key choreographers & superb technique.
• Instructional videos, chosen carefully, give kids a chance to have a great work-out in a new dance style with a different instructor.

More to come on mentoring resources, as (if?) outside commitments thin out…